Entries tagged with 30 day meme

30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!

I doubt she'll do this, but I'm tagging her anyway. Ms. gunslingaaahhh has such an incredible way with words and her ability to bring characters to technicolour life is something that I envy to the point of breaking a commandment (thou shalt not covet). I've never had "crushes" on literary characters before, reserving that strange phenomenon for movie and TV characters, but I have to admit that I developed quite the crush on gunslingaaahhh's deadly character of Everett. She made him so incredibly real, I can see him in my mind and sense his embodiment. That's such a wondrous feat that I hope Guns decides to expand upon. I just know that people would devour Everett with as much zest as he devours us.

29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?

I think about it every day. It's a very important part of my life. I never come across anything that relates to my stories or characters, given that my stories are so out there, being Vampire stories. The closest thing that comes to them are Shriekback videos, for obvious reasons.

28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones..

Not really. There was a section of Faust's account where he helped a member of the Tribe of the Tomb. Here it is for your perusal.

Faust was only two years into his new Vampiric existence, so he was still learning what it all meant. He knew very little about the Tribe of the Tomb, so he was surprised when the emaciated woman asked Faust for money.

Reaching into his trouser pockets, Faust found a few coins and handed them to the Vampire woman, who kissed his hands in thanks. Faust knelt before her and gazed into her eyes.

“What is your name, ma’am?”

“I…” The Vampire woman cast down her eyes out of shyness or shame, he knew not which, maybe neither, he never found out. On impulse, the young vampire reached out and cupped the vagrant’s dirty face in his other hand, staring into her faded eyes with his own blazing gaze. Her face brightened a little and he could feel her tremble under his touch. “I am Constance.”

“That’s a very pretty name Constance. Tell me… Why do you need money? You are a Vampire. We really have no need for it, you know. Do you?”

Constance nodded. “He won’t just give it to me anymore.”

“Who?”

“The butcher… And I am not fast enough to capture animals for myself,” she said, looking down at her legs.

Faust followed her eyes to see legs three sizes too small. Polio. And the Blood had not repaired in the way it would normally have others. He didn’t understand, but he ached for this wounded Vampire. “So you’ve been taking blood from the local abbatoir?”

“Yes, but he says I must pay. Times are tough all over. Everywhere, that’s what they say. Times….are tough all over.”Tears welled up in Faust’s mosaic eyes. “Come with me. It’s okay, you can trust me. Come.”

He helped the vagrant up and took her home. She was too weak even to pierce his throat with her almost spongy veins. Faust ended up biting his own wrist and offering it to her. She drank meekly and gratefully, and he let her take her fill, even though it was beginning to drain him to the point of starvation himself.

27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.

They do. Each character has a distinctive look and some use their appearances to draw in prey. I don't there's a character I've created who is not described first by telling about their eyes. Eyes play a special role in the creation of my characters.

Yes, I have drawn my characters and other have drawn them as well. I don't draw them anymore, 'cos I don't draw that much anymore. My favourite picture drawn by someone else is the picture of Faust drawn by luvthyjoker. At the time she drew the picture, I was having some serious identity issues with the character and the suffering he was destined to endure. The picture enabled me to finally break away from the anchor and focus on the character alone. Thanks to the picture, I was able to finish The Blood Crown and write The Augury of Gideon. Here it is.

My fanfiction Joker had a pet hedgehog by the name of Leopold. Leopold was blatantly taken from my own pet hedgehog from days gone by, whose name was also Leopold. The idea for Mister J to have a pet came from the fanfic where J encounters a pet shop clerk who shares his misanthropy. From that fiction on, Joker had the hedgehog companion.

24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?

If the plot demands it, I literally have no choice but to kill off a character. Stories get to a point where they begin to write themselves and you're nothing but the transcriber of the plot. So if a character's destiny is to die, so be it. The most interesting death absolutely belongs to Faust, since he is blessed with incorruptibility. He's literally torn apart before being abandoned in his apartment to eventually rotting away.

23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story — from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?

That depends on what story I'm telling and how excited I am to tell it. When I was writing The Chalice I was fighting a humongous writer's block. As a result, the book percolated for about ten years until I discovered NaNoWriMo. It was at this time that I was given the pressure I needed to work within a certain framework. I finished The Chalice in November, then went back and edited the novel for the first time. I did the same with The Blood Crown. Even though I didn't finish BC, I got a hefty majority of it written during NaNoWriMo. The Augury of Gideon was written within three months and had no connection to NaNoWriMo. It all depends upon the level of inspiration. If the inspiration isn't there, the writing is minimal, if it's there at all.

21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?

Children have only one role in my canon story: food. Their blood is the most pure to drink and most Vampires vow not to drink from children. Some, though, have no boundaries and will drink from children every chance they get. Eve is a child-killer. Cadmus, too, has been known to feed children into his chalice. As for having a child character...no. It hasn't happened yet and I don't foresee it ever happening.

20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?When Kelat and Cadmus interact, sparks fly. The air is heavy with magick as they battle silently to take the upper hand, while they do the same thing verbally. One many levels the two are equal, which makes this particularly scary for Kelat because she knows that, if she loses this battle of wills, Cadmus will immediately move in and kill her.

19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!

Oh that would have to be Faust! When I first thought Faust up in the early 90s, he was a Vampire who enjoyed the Disco culture in late 70s. I just wanted a Disco Vampire, to be honest. He was never part of the story until I mentioned him as being an unfortunate victim of Cadmus Pariah. When I began work on The Blood Crown, the first thing I wrote was "The Sainted Confessor", during which Faust exploded onto the scene. Once I had him anchored, Faust became a three dimensional soul and trumped even Cadmus during the section of this book. I wrote over 30,000 words, all Faust-centric, in the course of a month and Faust is one of the main characters in the next book, The Augury of Gideon, as the mortal Kallum McCreary. Thanks to luvthyjoker, who drew Faust during the time I was writing "The Sainted Confessor," Faust became a real person to me. I've had several people who read "The Sainted Confessor" to agree with me that Faust was a very real entity. It was strange to have this bit of character drabble monopolise the story in which he dwelt. I have more respect for all my characters now, both the vague and detailed, because I realise now that, at any time, a character can demand more attention than initially I thought it needed.

Cadmus Pariah of course. He's my most fully-developed character and he knows no bounds when it comes to his evil deeds. I love the fact that he doesn't consider what he does necessarily evil, but merely an extension of the seeds of survival. He believes himself to be emotionless, so his deeds are even more terrifying for lack of even a shred of mercy. He also has a particular brand of English I use when writing him that I find very enjoyable. Writing Cadmus is a poetic venture first and foremost.

Kelat is my favourite because I love writing ancient characters. Her story, spanning from the days of the tribal humanity, is filled with love, loss, joy, and terror. As a result, she's become a Goddess in her own right, guarding the triple helix of the Tarmi in the heart of Jerusalem. She makes me poetic and patient. She's everything Cadmus is not.

16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing? ;)

Kind of. Vampiric romance is different from mortal romance, which I don't see ever writing. Vampiric romance contains a seed of viciousness, which comes out particularly during consummation. Blood is always exchanged. Because of that, I'm willing to go as far as needed to stay true to the narrative. The co-mingling of sex and blood is something that absolutely has to happen when I'm writing Kelat and Dmitri, especially since they're incubus and succubus.

15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!I could talk about many including Stephen King and JRR Tolkien, who are both very influential to me, but I want to talk about someone more obscure than that to bring him a little bit of notice, at least in my corner of the world. His name is Russell Hoban. I was introduced to his work by Barry Andrews, who noted Russell Hoban as being inspirational to some of Shriekback's work. He's known mainly in America as an author of children's books, but he has quite the repertoire of novels across the pond.

The first book of his that I read was The Medusa Frequency. It's dreamy language and loose plot tugged at me in a way never before. I loved his prose; I was hooked. I moved on to Riddley Walker, which is difficult to follow for the first couple of pages but, afterward, you find yourself reading in a totally different language based on English and understanding every word. It's hard not to talk in Riddley speak for long after you've finished the book. If you want to get an idea of how to read Riddley Walker, just rent Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and get to where Max is taken in by the tribe of children near the end of the movie. The kids talk just like Riddley Walker. The book that really pulled me into a full-blown love affair with Russell Hoban was Pilgermann. The way Russell Hoban writes in this and the ideas he presents is nothing short of beautiful. Even in the face of every human atrocity, he finds beauty and relays it in a language that makes your heart swell. If you haven't read any of Hoban's work, I strongly suggest you do. He's a treasure that's buried too deep here in America.

14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?I mapped Dannagran Dram, but all that's packed away somewhere and I have no idea where it is. When I find it, I'll scan the maps.

13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?The Tarmi, hands down. I've lived with them for so long, they are like a second nature to me. With their habit of walking on their toes and their sibilant language, how can I not love them? I've been writing the Tarmi, creating (or channeling) their culture since 1983, so I have to say they're my favourite. My second favourite would be my Vampires. I've thought about writing an essay on the politics of the Great Hive, but I just never got around to it. I probably will end up doing it, though.

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters! 5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them? 6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper? 7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters? 8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read? 9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them. 10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share? 13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not? 14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us? 15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not! 16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing? ;) 17. Favorite protagonist and why! 18. Favorite antagonist and why! 19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why! 20. What are your favorite character interactions to write? 21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them? 22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not. 23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story — from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)? 24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone? 25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them. 26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him! 27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters. 28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones. 29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters? 30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!

12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share?

The Dannagran Dram stories I believe have the most detailed worldbuilding. I have an entire history, various cultures and races (and species!), continents and countries, flora and fauna. Just so much. I've drawn maps of the country of Dannagran Dram. The whole thing is nearly as detailed as what you'd find in many fantasy novels in the bookstore. All of Danny Dram material is packed back, but I need to drag all that stuff out and commit it to Word.

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters! 5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them? 6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper? 7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters? 8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read? 9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them. 10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts! 11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share? 13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not? 14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us? 15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not! 16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing? ;) 17. Favorite protagonist and why! 18. Favorite antagonist and why! 19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why! 20. What are your favorite character interactions to write? 21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them? 22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not. 23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story — from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)? 24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone? 25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them. 26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him! 27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters. 28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones. 29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters? 30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

Cadmus Pariah, hands down. He's been with me for 20 years, whispering deadly sweet nothings in my ear almost every day. I know him better than anyone and I know that he'll be with me when I die, still singing deadly songs.

Least favourite is Thiyennen/Vasily Tenin. He's an incredible wimp, being a self-immolating, navel-gazing blob of sorrow. I would not go as far as Cadmus went if I ever met Thiyennen, but I'd certainly want to slap him and tell him to snap out of it.

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters! 5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them? 6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper? 7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters? 8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read? 9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts! 11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite? 12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share? 13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not? 14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us? 15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not! 16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing? ;) 17. Favorite protagonist and why! 18. Favorite antagonist and why! 19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why! 20. What are your favorite character interactions to write? 21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them? 22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not. 23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story — from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)? 24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone? 25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them. 26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him! 27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters. 28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones. 29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters? 30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!

10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!

I incorporated Live Journal in The Vampire Relics. As part of his attempt at self-therapy, Cadmus began to blog. Now people think he's writing fiction as a persona, when everything he writes is true, including discussing murder, plans of world conquest, etcetera. Another weird situation was when Cadmus was trying to get Orphaeus safely out of the light at Heathrow. That's not so much weird as comedic.

This one is a pretty difficult question to answer because, due to the strange nature of the narrative, pretty much every situation in which my characters find themselves is weird.

9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.

Oh GAWD. Okay, most of my characters just pop instantaneously in my head as simple thought forms. Their most important aspect is their name. It's almost like they're given birth and a name, then they're nonentities for years. At least that's how it is for many of them. Some of them I deliberately create and give personalities and histories from the very beginning. Thiyennen and Kelat are examples of these intentional characters.

Other characters that I intended to have as mere plot devices took on lives of their own. The two primary example of this are Cadmus Pariah and Faust the Confessor/Kallum McCreary. Originally both of them were just names and a shade of history or mystery. But, when I began to write what little I knew about them, they exploded on the page and demanded full attention. Now Cadmus, not Kelat, is the main character of The Vampire Relics and Kallum, not Orphaeus, is his main nemesis.

Favourite genre to write is Gothic horror, I guess you could say, although comedy is fun, too. Combining them can be hilarious. Trust me on this. My favourite reading is the good ole Fantasy novel and pretty much anything Stephen King put out in the 70s and 80s. gunslingaaahhh is on my butt to read the Gunslinger series and I will all in good time, I promise. My list of "to read" is longer than my "honey do" list for the house and that's a pretty bloody long list.

7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?

I have to listen to music when I write. To me, music is the life's blood of writing. Before the wonders of iTunes, I would make tapes or CDs of the kind of music I thought I'd need when writing. Now I can make a play list at the drop of a hat. With the creation of The Vampire Relics, the main music was Shriekback; however, there was also the presence of Classical music, Goth, and anything else that tickled my fancy. One song that really defines Cadmus is "Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Mix) by Rob Dougan. A lot of people are surprised that this song and not a Shriekback song, in particular "Deeply Lined Up," would be Cadmus' theme, but that's just how it is. If you want to get a flavour of the character of Cadmus, listen to "Clubbed to Death." Another is "Exile" by Enya. That song more than defines Kelat. It's always been her theme song.

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters! 5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them? 6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper?

Whenever the urge strikes me, which is usually at the most inopportune time. Ideas come to me a lot in the car and, by the time I get home, they're either dead or obsolete. I used to use pen and paper, and illustrate my stories. With the advent of the computer, though, my handwriting is for crap and I couldn't draw if my life depended on it. Right now, early morning is my time to write 'cos Aunt Tudi is asleep and the animals are relatively calm. I can get lots done. I'm proofreading right now, so not much writing is getting done; however, I may be changing the end of The Blood Crown when I get to it. You just never know.

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them?

By age, my oldest character is Kelat, who was born into the alien race the Tarmi and remembers well the creation of humanity. The youngest would be Ishtar, newly formed into the Hive. The oldest character is Vasily Thiyennen, about a year older in creation than Kelat. I'm currently developing Braecca who, although she's been rattling around in my mind for a few years, her character is shiny new.

So here we care again. I didn't realise a 30-Day Meme would drag out for so long, but I'm not bright like that. Here's where we stand right now.

0. Explain yourself!

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

I'm cheating here a little because all of my first stories and characters had to do with woodland animals and were more than a little ridiculous. Instead, I'll talke about my favourite truly original character, Cadmus Pariah.

He was created in the span of about a few second after listening to a section of the song "Deeply Lined Up" by Shriekback. I saw him clear as day passing around a beautiful goblet to his fans, who would gleefully cut themselves and pour their own blood into the chalice. When the DJ saw what was going on, he tried to stop the carnage and shut down the show. With one simple glance, Cadmus gave the man a stroke and continued his jollies. He's gotten a bit more unpleasant since then.

I've lived with Cadmus for about twenty years now. He whispers abominations in my ear and makes suggestions as to what other mischief he might could get into. After twenty years of existence, you could say that the character has grown into his own. He's no longer a figment of my imagination, my being a big believer in thought manifestation. On some unfortunate plane, Cadmus exists, and he makes life and unlife very unpleasant for those he's encounters. He chooses to tell me about his activities so I can write about them and make everyone else as horrified as I am.

Even though he's only 20 years old, Cadmus looks to be about 35. He is a living vampire who ages when he isn't consistently fed the Blood of other Vampires, or at least the transubstantiated blood of humans from within the chalice. He measures to be about 5'8" and it slight of build, although he is stronger, much stronger, than anyone could possibly imagine. His body is wiry and his head is bald by choice, having taken on the traits of his cruel mentor Nissisus after killing him upon his ascension to master of the Arts of the Apostate. His lubrication was the blood of his dreadful master. If he let his hair grow out, it would be long, black, and impossibly beautiful.

Everything about Cadmus is beautiful. It's his way of pulling humans and Vampires to him to kill. In a way, he could be akin to the angler fish. The beacon of his beauty is the light of the fish and all who fall into its spell is doomed to feed the abomination. Cadmus tends to harvest the souls of his victims as well as drink their blood. His harvesting is a form of survival as he had emotion abused out of him as a youngling. He uses what he calls the philosophical apices of his victims forever trapped in his well of souls in order to function as normally as he can in social situations. He has collected thousands of souls for this purpose.

3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?

Usually, they just come to me. I have a long linguistic history with a language I began making up in my early teens and a lot of the words, names, and phrases stem from that source. Another source is what I call the bastardization of a name. Cadmus, for instance, got his name by mushing the two names Carl Marsh together, when I thought the object of my nightmares was Carl Marsh and not Barry Andrews. How was I to know? The liner notes said that the singer was Carl Marsh and Barry was the keyboard player. In my head, it was Carl Marsh that scared the flaming bejesus out of me. Since then, I have been corrected in my thinking, but the name Cadmus stuck because the mythology of the legendary Cadmus had insinuated itself into my fictional character.

One of these days, I'm gonna have to tell Carl about my SNAFU and apologise for turning his name into an utterance of dread in my stories.

Characters I use constantly or all characters? The ones I feature prominently add up to about five to seven, depending on what story I'm telling ~ Cadmus Pariah, Kelat, Dmitri, Thiyennen, Faust, Rebekah, and Mephistopheles are the main players right now.

I actually prefer males. To me they make better Vampires, all because of the seduction factor. It could be that I'm a female and it's wishful thinking on my part, plus I was marked by male Vampires as a child, in particular Barnabus Collins and Michael Nouri's Dracula.

I've decided to delve into one of those 30-day memes to jump start my blog. These looked interesting, so here we go.

The questions:

0. Explain yourself!

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why. 2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)? 4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters! 5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them? 6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper? 7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters? 8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read? 9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them. 10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts! 11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite? 12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share? 13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not? 14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us? 15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not! 16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing? ;) 17. Favorite protagonist and why! 18. Favorite antagonist and why! 19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why! 20. What are your favorite character interactions to write? 21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them? 22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not. 23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story — from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)? 24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone? 25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them. 26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him! 27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters. 28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones. 29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters? 30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!

If anyone wants to join in, please feel free! Here's #1

0. Explain yourself!Well, my name is Tracy, but I'm known mainly as Tin or Tinhuviel online. That's the name I adopted because the properly-spelled Tinuviel is Sindarin for nightingale. Since I love the twilight and I love to sing, this made sense to me. It's also my Craft name, which I've used since 1990. I'm an author who will turn 43 next month. My first book will also be released next month by Fey Publishing. I can't think of a better birthday gift. Go out and buy it voraciously, won't you?

I've lived in the South for almost my entire life. I did spend two trial weeks in West Virginia, but that was an exercise in horror, so we moved back to Asheville, North Carolina. I now reside in the Upstate of South Carolina, but my dream is to move to the West Country of England. If I can't go there, then I'd very much love to return to Asheville.

Since 2002, I've been an avid blogger. I don't see this ever changing unless the world ends. That said, I'm also a student of Apocalyptic prophecies, referring to them as the Alpaca Lips. I look forward to the day when the Earth finally kicks our wasteful butts off her lovely surface and tries her hand at uplifting another species that may have more respect for her divine beauty and abundance.

I'm an animal lover, particularly birds and cats, although I try to keep them apart considering it usually always ends up badly for the bird. I am also a Witch and have been a solitary practitioner 12 years. I've been in the Craft for a total of 19 years.

Any questions, just ask. Number 1 will come tomorrow. Aren't you thrilled?